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Tuesday, 22 March 2011

Well I finally bit the bullet and used one on my LOTV cute squares! I thought it was about time, I mean I bought them in October at the SECC. I can only “aaaw” over them so many times!

Chris’ friends have just become the proud parents of a bouncing baby boy, Ethan (love the name) and I figured this would be the perfect occasion for a cute square. I wanted to keep it reasonable simple to emphasise the cuteness… what do you think?

I’m liking the arty shots – especially as I can tilt them now too. I’m also liking the envelope inserts – they are so easy to do but I think they look great when you see them with the card.

Sneak Preview

Challenges Entered

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Now I need to say a huge thank you to Sue from Crafting with Sue who is very talented friend from the States, she’s an inspiration in many ways, not only does she make cards, she scrapbooks, she designs digistamps, and has the nuttiest parrots on the face of the planet

So the rules are that I need to tell you 8 things about me…

I learned Highland Dancing as a kid (as in Highland Fling, Sword dance type of dancing)

I can’t do handstands cos I’ve got weird tendons in my fingers.

I used to be fluent in Italian.

I studied for a Maths degree and I’m a self-confessed geek.

I love reading books.

As a kid I poked a torpedo on a beach with a stick and thankfully lived to tell the tale.

Monday, 14 March 2011

I hope your Monday hasn’t been too stressful. Tonight I’m sharing an exploding box with you. This was a last minute request – boy was it a stressful project. I was asked to make it on the Thursday afternoon and my friend needed it first thing Friday morning. I warned Chris he may need to help with the sticking and feeding me copious amounts of coffee. It was hard but I got there, but I do wish I had more time because I would love to have embellished it more. Oh and don’t look at it too closely – it’s not as neat as I would have liked. Ah well, next time…

It was a 40th birthday card, in case you’re wondering why it says Josephine 40.

Wednesday, 2 March 2011

I have been asked by a few people for a tutorial for my light box that I have made so as I had the afternoon off work I thought I would rustle something up. I’ve used drawings that I did on Photoshop, I hope that’s ok for you all, because I didn’t have another cardboard box to chop up

So, be gentle with me, this is the first time I’ve done something like this…

What you’ll need

A decent sized cardboard box – it has to be big enough for your projects to fit in it with a bit of room to spare.

Selotape.

A sharp knife or scissors.

Some bright white paper.

Something sticky – I used double-sided tape but if you have patience then glue is fine.

White tissue paper – this is optional

A lamp – this is optional

Step 1

Make sure your box is closed and sealed tightly at any openings and if not selotape any gaps shut.

Step 2

Cut away the top and the front – the one’s that I’ve marked with an X

Step 3

You should now have a box that looks something like this.

Step 4

You now have to cover the insides with the bright white paper and make sure it’s stuck down really well with no gaps.

Optional Step 5

At this stage you can stick some white tissue paper where the top of the box used to be and then shine your lamp through this when taking your pictures. The tissue paper helps to diffuse the light. (I didn’t bother with this)

To take your pictures

I finished my one at step 4. So to take your pictures I place whatever I want to photograph inside the box and stand it on my kitchen worktop – I do it here because my lights in my kitchen are the brightest ones. Try to angle the box so it’s under the light – this stops the sides of the box casting shadows – but if you have a lamp just stand this over the box so it shines directly into it.

I have found I can still use a flash with my camera and it seems to work because it bounces off the white paper rather than what I’m trying to photograph. I’ll be honest though and say when I get around to it I will by an angle-poise lamp to save messing about.

About Me

My name is Jaqui and I live in Glasgow with my fiance Chris and our two cats: Shadow and Kiarra. We are trying to move to the countryside so we can have dogs too. I would love to craft full time. I started this blog to keep a record of all my crafty stuff.